Executive Summary
- Police declared an active shooter situation at 4:15 p.m., but the city’s 311 alert was not sent until 5:10 p.m.
- Brown University issued an internal alert at 4:22 p.m., which excluded nearby Providence residents.
- Providence Mayor Brett Smiley acknowledged the limitations of the opt-in notification system and pledged improvements.
- Experts and city officials remain divided on the tactical appropriateness of using audible sirens during active shooter events.
City of Providence officials have released a comprehensive timeline detailing the dissemination of emergency alerts during the December mass shooting at Brown University, revealing a significant lag between the initial police response and broader public notification. The data indicates that while law enforcement responded rapidly to the scene, warnings to the surrounding community were delayed by nearly an hour after the incident began.
According to the newly released timeline, shots were fired inside the Barus and Holley Engineering Building at 4:03 p.m. on Dec. 13. Police officers arrived at the scene within minutes, and the officer in charge officially classified the event as an "active shooter" situation at 4:15 p.m.
Brown University issued a shelter-in-place alert at 4:22 p.m., seven minutes after the active shooter designation. However, officials noted that this notification was distributed exclusively to university students and staff. Residents living in the immediate vicinity and students on adjacent campuses did not receive this initial warning.
"I had seen on a forum that there was a shooting," said Brown student Caleb Mintz, describing the confusion. "Thirty minutes later, that’s when I finally got the notification on my phone."
The City of Providence did not issue a public warning until 4:49 p.m., when a social media post advised residents of a heavy police presence and instructed them to avoid the area. A formal alert via the city’s 311 system was not transmitted until 5:10 p.m., more than an hour after the initial shots were reported.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley addressed the delays during a press conference, acknowledging the limitations of the current system. "The emergency notification and alert system is one of the top pieces of feedback we’ve received," Smiley said. "It’s an issue we’ll be focusing on how to do better." He highlighted that the 311 system is opt-in, meaning many residents who had not previously registered did not receive the alert.
The release of the timeline has also sparked a debate regarding the use of audible siren systems. Mayor Smiley defended the decision to not utilize loud alarms, arguing that such alerts can reveal the location of individuals hiding from an attacker. However, Dr. Ray Bassiouni, founder and CEO of ATI Systems, disputed this approach. "They made a big mistake not using the siren system," Bassiouni stated. "People always want to be able to protect themselves."
Emergency Protocol Evaluation
The disclosure of this timeline highlights critical friction points in the interoperability between campus security protocols and municipal emergency management. The significant time elapsed between the "active shooter" declaration and the dissemination of city-wide alerts suggests a procedural gap in how information flows from tactical responders to the general public. As Providence Emergency Management reviews its infrastructure, the focus will likely shift toward implementing unified notification channels that do not rely solely on user registration or social media, ensuring that life-safety information reaches the broader community with the same immediacy as internal campus alerts.
